The present invention relates generally to the field of communications associated with the communication of facsimile messages and associated with the uniting of traditionally distinct message delivery systems such as facsimile delivery and electronic mail delivery.
The popularity of the quick and easy facsimile delivery of messages and the popularity of low cost delivery of messages via electronic mail (also referred to as xe2x80x9cE-mailxe2x80x9d) messaging systems have for quite some time enticed attempts to mingle the two technologies, and efforts have become even more fervent in the wake of the recent explosive increase in use of the global computer data network known as the xe2x80x9cInternetxe2x80x9d. An early attempt to mingle facsimile and Email message delivery technologies is represented by the Facsimile Transmission System of U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,170 (Herbst). Herbst appears to show a system which uses an E-mail system to route a facsimile file between controllers associated with the E-mail network in order to accomplish, in the end result, a facsimile input and a facsimile output. U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,798 (Cohen, el al.) discloses a system whose stated goal is to provide a single, xe2x80x9cunifiedxe2x80x9d electronic mailbox for storing either messages or notification of the existence of messages of different types. Cohen, et al. does mention the integration of facsimile mail messages, but does not appear to clearly discuss how the system would handle such fax messages. U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,156 (Ishii) discloses a system where a data communication center and a facsimile mail center are linked in a manner to accomplish the delivery of E-mail messages by way of facsimile, but not visa versa. At the same time, the facsimile industry has seen a growth in the use of interactive communication with remote store and forward facilities (xe2x80x9cSAFFxe2x80x9d) for storage in a xe2x80x9cfax mailboxxe2x80x9d in digital image form and managed delivery of facsimile messages, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,203 (Gordon, et al.); and further, the art includes the use of locally appended devices to the sending fax device to intercept commands and route facsimile messages, in facsimile form, to a remote SAFF for subsequent delivery to a destination facsimile device, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,100 Bloomfield, et al. Each of the above-mentioned references appears dedicated to the ultimate delivery of the message to a destination fax machine or fax capable device such as an equipped personal computer (xe2x80x9cPCxe2x80x9d).
Briefly described, the present invention comprises a fax to E-mail system and related method whereby a facsimile transmission is sent to its recipient via electronic mail (such as through the xe2x80x9cInternetxe2x80x9d) rather than via another facsimile machine, and is delivered in such a manner that it can be retrieved by the recipient at his/her E-mail device, in the ordinary course of retrieving the E-mail, and viewed on the screen of the E-mail device. The invention provides for and accomplishes the delivery of a document, which begins as a hardcopy, as an electronic file retrieved through an E-mail recipient""s terminal and read at the computer screen of the E-mail recipient""s terminal.
The system of the present invention includes, in its most preferred apparatus and method embodiments, among other elements, a xe2x80x9clocal interfacexe2x80x9d and a remotely located Facsimile/E-mail server system (FEM-GATEWAY) which cooperate to provide a Facsimile/E-mail service whereby hardcopy information, including textual and/or graphical portions, is communicated between a facsimile device and an E-mail device, while still allowing conventional operation of the facsimile device. More specifically, the present invention comprises apparatus and methods for the input of an E-mail address locally to a facsimile machine, for directing the transmission of the image to a remotely located FEM-GATEWAY, for receiving and converting data representative of an image scanned by the facsimile device (referred to herein as facsimile information) into a computer-readable data file formatted in an image data file format, for creating an addressed E-mail message to which the computer-readable data file is attached, and for delivering the E-mail and attachment to a desired recipient over a data network such as a global computer network, such as the xe2x80x9cInternetxe2x80x9d.
In its preferred embodiments, the interface device of the present invention uniquely receives an alphanumeric E-mail address, displaying the address for verification by the user, is specially configured to command the FEM-GATEWAY to transmit a fax document via E-mail, and conveys an E-mail address and fax message (through the attached fax device) to the FEM-GATEWAY. The interface device allows any pre-existing fax machine to function as the sending machine of the invented system, with no modification to the fax machine itself. The present invention""s handling of the fax message by converting the message to a computer-readable image file and attaching it to a system generated E-mail message, and the system""s cooperative interaction between the interface device and the FEM-GATEWAY uniquely allow the present invention to accomplish its intended goal of delivering fax messages via the E-mail system. In at least one alternate embodiment, the functions of the interface device are embedded into a conventional fax device.
The present invention bridges two networks, interacting first in the telephone network (PTN) to transmit as telephony signals a facsimile message to the FEM-GATEWAY and then interacting in the E-mail network (through the xe2x80x9cInternetxe2x80x9d or other data networks) to deliver an E-mail message to its intended E-mail address. A sender wishing to send a facsimile message selectively activates the interface device locally associated with the sending fax machine which results in the fax being sent differently than a normal fax transmission. In accordance with the preferred embodiments, the interface device initiates a connection through the PTN to a server at a remote FEM-GATEWAY, and the interface device interacts with that server to generate and deliver to the intended recipient""s E-mail address an E-mail message to which is attached the facsimile document formatted as a computer-readable image file compatible with the recipient""s E-mail terminal.